Last Chance
by Megaeia
Summary: A short story from in between the Titan's Curse and the Battle of the Labyrinth, invovling Annabeth, Luke, and a certain white flag.
1. Chapter 1

Annabeth relaxed on the guest bed in her dad's house in San Francisco. Finally, after tense family dinners and paranoid glances for danger in every turn, she had managed to snag some alone time. A small book had appeared on her father's front doorstep that morning, with a note taped on the front cover. It read, _Annabeth- Your father is a wonderful man. Please give him the chance to prove it to you. He loves you, my daughter. _A persuasion gift from her mother, Athena. The book was titled Architecture of the Ancient World, and Annabeth had been waiting all day to start reading it. But now that she was here, she wasn't in the mood to read.

Annabeth set down the book and note. Settling into the smooth quilt and soft pillows, she closed her eyes and listened to the sounds of the house, letting her mind go slack. Then, almost as soon as it started, the brief serenity disappeared with a single chime of the doorbell. Sighing to herself, Annabeth shook herself out of comfort and jogged down the staircase to the front door. She took a quick glance through the peephole on the door, but couldn't make out a recognizable shape through the thick fog that had settled in. Opening the door and squinting through the mist, she said, "Hello?"

"Annabeth." A voice so hurt yet firm said in a strained accent. "I- I need to talk to you." It was a voice so familiar that it seemed as if a thousand church bells were ringing in every direction. A voice so close that it felt as if Annabeth's mind had been struck by lightning- and her heart.


	2. Chapter 2

"Luke." Annabeth felt like a weight had been dropped on her head. Her whole life the past few years had been focused on trying to forget Luke's betrayal, and prepare for the pending battle with Kronos' army. But she had always known that it couldn't be that easy… Luke meant too much to her, in more ways than one. Closing the door behind her, Annabeth stepped into the cool air, and forced herself to speak. "What are you doing here?"

Luke looked frightened and worried, and the scar on his forehead stood out on his pale skin. Glancing around, he grasped the hilt of a white flag. The flag that stood for peace. "I- I need to sit down," Luke said in a coarse voice. Annabeth was shaken out of her momentary shock. She had never heard Luke sound so afraid, and she was tempted to invite him inside for a warm cup of hot chocolate, just to hear the pain disappear from his voice.

Annabeth brought her consciousness back into focus. Keeping a neutral expression on her face, she said, "Over here." Leading Luke to the base of a small tree in the front yard, Annabeth sat down, motioning for Luke to do the same. As he took his seat on the wet, dewy grass and propped his flag up on the tree's trunk, Annabeth asked again, "Why are you here?"

Luke was weaving his fingers in and out, the way he always did when he was nervous. After a brief silence he spoke, his voice became clearer and stronger with each word. "Kronos has a plan for me, a plan that I- that I can't go through with. I don't have the strength or the will to, and if he finds out, I'll…" He trailed off, losing focus for a long enough time for Annabeth to become annoyed.

"You'll what, Luke?" Her voice sounded more pinched than ever, which seemed to jostle Luke.

"I'll die," He said simply. "Kronos will kill me. But that's not what I'm here to tell you," he rushed on. "I've thought of another way, a way that I want my life to be like, forever, and…"

"What is it, Luke?" Annabeth's tone was harsher than either of them was expecting. But she didn't want to hear what she already knew about Kronos. It was well- known that he used anything and everything to get where he was heading, and he had no limits to the beings that he would exile for the labor of one task. She didn't need Luke to remind her of that.

"I want my life to be like how it was when we were traveling together," Luke said. "When we could run from place to place, practice our skills, battle monsters, and defeat anything together. When we could experience the real world, and not the one drenched in gods and monsters and prophecies." He locked her eyes in his with his last sentences. "We can run off now, get away from war, and Kronos, and Camp Half- Blood. Just you and me, Annabeth, just like old times. You and me… Together."


	3. Chapter 3

"Why, Luke?" She asked. "Why, after everything you've done to Camp, to our friends, to Thalia? Why would now suddenly be different?"

Annabeth saw a flicker of anger cross Luke's face, but she didn't care. Luke had hurt everyone she cared about, and she deserved to know why he had now suddenly changed.

"Kronos is going to use me like a stepping stone, Annabeth," Luke's voice sounded controlled and patient, as if he was talking to a seven-year- old again. But a glint of worry was showing in his eyes, barely anything, but Annabeth could see it. "He wants to use me to take over the world."

"So you want to run away," Annabeth said slowly. "You want me to betray everybody, and just run off with you, after everything you've done to me?" Her voice was hard.

Luke set his jaw in a firm grip. "Annabeth, Kronos wants to use me to rule the world. I can't… I won't… I'm not ready to do that."

Annabeth felt the hilt of her dagger, in the loop of her belt. Luke wasn't armed. She was. If she could just get him in the right place… No. Annabeth shook herself out of it. She knew that if she did what her mind was nagging her to do, she would never be able to beat it down. But if she didn't…

"Please, Annabeth," Luke continued. "Just give me one last chance. Just one last chance to make things right," he pleaded.

Annabeth felt torn. She could live with Luke, together, just like when they were a family. Or, she would eventually have to fight him and Kronos, and she didn't know if she would be able to do that. But then she thought about what had happened. She was Luke's back up plan. She was his second- pick, his person to lean on. What if this all was a trick, a plan to get her to join Kronos and his forces?

"No, Luke," The words hurt, but they were what he had to hear. "You've already had your last chance."


End file.
